Preston North End were one of just a few teams to take three points off Ipswich Town in the 2023/24 season going 3-0 up at Deepdale by half-time before a Kieffer Moore brace restored hope but was not enough to inspire Town to a point, the game ending 3-2.

They were one of the teams involved in the epic relegation battle last season and despite having promotion winner Paul Heckingbottom now at the helm, were one that I predicted as likely to be involved in one once again this season.

They have, however, proved me wrong so far, starting their season with a 1-1 draw with QPR, beating Barrow in the cup and shocking Leicester last time out with a 2-1 victory to sit ninth in the embryonic table.

Goalkeepers

North End have lost Freddie Woodman, who had been their number one goalkeeper for the last three years, after he joined Liverpool on a free transfer, and it looks like Leicester’s third-choice goalkeeper Daniel Iversen is set to replace him as number one.

Iversen spent the second half of last season on loan at Stoke, keeping seven clean sheets in 18 games and respresents a solid if not spectacular replacement. He currently has the honour of being the only goalkeeper with an assist to his name with his arrowed long ball setting up Milutin Osmajic perfectly in their opener.

His back-up will be Jack Walton, signed this summer from Dundee United, relegating David Cornell (remember him?) to third choice. The former Town keeper has been with the Lilywhites since 2022 and got a few games between March and May last season with Woodman out injured.

Defenders

Jordan Storey, Liam Lindsay and Andrew Hughes must be the Championship’s most consistent back three. Between them they have 651 appearances for Preston. Hughes has the versatility to play on the left of a three or at left-back. Lindsay is always the central peg and made 226 clearances last season, the 16th highest in the league.

They were joined by Lewis Gibson halfway through last season, the left-footed defender joining from relegation rivals Plymouth in January and slotting comfortably into the left-hand side of the back three.

With Jack Whatmough leaving to join Huddersfield, Odeluga Offiah has been brought in to replace him on loan from Brighton. The 22-year-old played 40 games in League One at Blackpool last season and will be looking forward to testing himself a step higher.

As mentioned earlier, Hughes has the ability to play at left wing-back but so does Robbie Brady. The Irishman is now 33 but shows no signs of slowing down and is a handy player to have in the squad but it seems likely that North End will look to the future with new signing Thierry Small taking the left wing-back spot.

The 20-year-old Englishman impressed for Charlton in League One last season and although naturally left-footed, spent time playing on both sides of the pitch.

With Small also able to play at right wing-back, where he started in the first game of the season, the Lilywhites have added more competition on the left side with Andrija Vukcevic. The 28-year-old Montenegran international joined on a free following his release by Segunda División side Cartagena.

On the other side, it’s likely to be a healthy battle between Brad Potts, who brings an excellent balance between attack and defence and was a standout performer with his threatening runs down the right hand side at Portman Road a couple of seasons ago, aforementioned Small and new signing Pol Valentin, who has left the chaos of Sheffield Wednesday.

Both wing-backs (Valentin and Small on this occasion) got assists against Leicester, showing the threat the Preston in wide areas.

Midfield

It’s more consistency in the middle of the pitch with Ben Whiteman and Alistair McCann with 312 appearances between them. Jordan Thompson has been added on a free from Stoke to provide competition in there, but is another similar sort of defensive midfield profile.

Icelandic international Stefán Teitur Þórðarson provides something a bit different in there and has the versatility to play further forward as an attacking midfielder and will often be used when Preston play a midfield three, as they did on the opening day.

Further depth has been added with the loan signing of Alfie Devine from Tottenham. The 21-year-old has previously spent time at Port Vale, Plymouth Argyle and Belgian side KV Westerloo and has already made an impression on the North End faithful by scoring the opener against Leicester.

Eighteen-year-old Theo Carrol started in the Carabao Cup against Barrow but only has 10 minutes of Championship football to his name so is unlikely to be used unless absolutely necessary.

Forwards

Again, there is more familiarity in the front line. Mads Frokjaer Jensen, Will Keane and Osmajic all featured the last time these two sides met but the former two struggled last season for output. Frokjaer Jensen scored just twice in the league whilst Keane only did one better with three.

Osmajic, however, had a much better season with 13 goals in all competitions, including one on the last day of the season against Bristol City and is off the mark this season as well having found the net against QPR and Leicester.

Daniel Jebbison has been added to that attacking unit as he joins on loan from Bournemouth to fill the spot of the departing Emil Riis. He got some game time for Bournemouth last season when the Cherries went through an injury crisis, but will be looking to play regular football once again following a long spell out of not playing week in, week out.

The Canadian has seen his career stall since showing a lot of promise in his time at Sheffield United and will be looking to use this loan move to try and prove his worth and ability at a Championship level.

He’s currently out injured with an ankle injury picked up whilst working with a personal trainer, something with which manager Heckingbottom has shown his displeasure.

Preston have been beneficiaries of the Sheffield Wednesday disaster for a second time with the pick-up of Michael Smith. Now 33 years old, the marksman has 30 goals in 162 appearances and offers a physical presence at the top of the pitch.

The Teams

Following a much-improved performance against Southampton, Town will be looking for their first win here and I can’t see there being any changes to the line-up.

Given Preston’s success against Leicester, barring any injuries I can’t see there being any changes there either.

Prediction

I’ve been surprised by Preston’s start to the season. They stay very compact through the centre and have exciting attacking wing-backs and an old fashion front two.

A lot of the squad has been together for a long period of time and will know each other's games, whereas Town are still trying to gel and find the right combinations.

I don’t think this will be an easy three points by any means but after the performance last weekend I’m optimistic that we can build on that here and put in a good showing. I’m going for a 1-0 away victory.

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